1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrophoresis, particularly to regulating gel temperature during gel electrophoresis.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrophoresis is a process for separating chemical substances from one another by means of their differential molecular weights. The chemical substances may be naturally charged, or a charge may be applied to them prior to electrophoresis. The chemical substances may be embedded in a neutral medium such as a gel. An electric potential is applied to the mixture for a fixed time period, during which lighter molecules will move more quickly. At the end of the period, the lighter molecules will have moved farther than the heavier molecules. Thus, one application of electrophoresis is to determine relative proportions of chemical substances in a mixture.
Electrophoresis is commonly used to determining the sequence of base pairs in nucleic acids such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA). This process is called "sequencing". Although sequencing may be done automatically by certain specialized equipment, but the cost of such equipment is too high for the average researcher. Manual sequencing is often tedious and time-consuming.
It has been found that electrophoresis is faster when performed with higher voltages; and that higher voltages generate heat which elevates the gel temperature. If the temperature rises too high, the glass plates which are used in the electrophoresis process may break, generally ruining the results and requiring that the sequencing must be run again. An associated problem is that factors which may influence the temperature of the gel during electrophoresis may vary widely, making it difficult to control the temperature during electrophoresis accurately.
One method of the prior art has been for a researcher to "baby sit" the electrophoresis sequencing process, periodically checking the temperature to see if the glass is becoming too hot. Typically the researcher will check the temperature by hand, i.e., by feeling the surface of the glass plates. While this method of the prior art may achieve the objective of speeding up the electrophoresis process, it is subject to the drawbacks that it is inaccurate, unreliable, and of course occupies the time of the researcher.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a method and system for performing electrophoresis under automated temperature control.